Electronic Travel Authorisation and Dual Citizens

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As many of you will be aware, tightened controls on UK Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) come into force on 25 February. The UK government stipulate that all UK citizens (including dual citizens) MUST present a valid UK (or Irish if dual British/Irish citizens) passport (or a certificate of entitlement) in order to enter the UK and we understand that carriers will have obligations to ensure that boarding pass issuance is linked to the passport used for the journey. The Home Office has, it seems, introduced temporary measures to allow individuals without valid UK passports to travel to the UK at short notice (see below).

BiE (with EuroCitizens [Spain]) have met with senior officials at the Home Office. We initially challenged the legal basis for making use of a UK passport obligatory. The legal background is both unclear and tied into definitions of British citizenship and the UK government’s obligations to its citizens. It is clear that the Home Office and, by extension, the government believe that they are on a sure legal footing. They argue that the measure is necessary for securing the UK border whilst permitting straightforward access to the UK for those entitled to live in or visit the UK.

We proposed and discussed a number of alternative approaches. However, for legal reasons, the Home Office claim that they cannot be introduced.

Any legal challenge would be both complex and expensive but we are instead pursuing advocacy routes i.e. meetings with the Home Office as well as writing together with the3million and ILPA to the Home Office.

Provisional Guidance

The following guidance is based in part on that discussion with the Home Office but we must stress it is provisional guidance based on what we have been told to date and cannot be taken as definitive.

Travel Bookings

Given this Home Office position, we strongly suggest that dual EU/UK citizens use a British (or Irish) passport both for making travel arrangements and to enter the UK. For the moment we suggest that a straightforward UK trip is booked as two, separate, one-way segments. This is due to a lack of carrier uniformity in allowing inclusion of more than one passport in booking details (the Home Office say that they are working with carriers to allow this). Secondly, we see that it is necessary to book the return trip to the country of residence using an EU passport given the introduction of EES. We also suggest that the EU passport is used in all interactions with officials in your country of residence at departure. We recognise that this may cause some concerns for dual citizens of countries that do not recognise dual nationality as it means carrying two passports. However, in the case of Spain, for example, the ministry of foreign affairs is explicitly advising that dual citizens carry both their Spanish and UK passports.

Dual Citizens without a UK Passport

Many travellers with children born outside the UK are unaware that their children might have the right to acquire British citizenship. As long as one of the child’s parents was born in the UK as a citizen, or naturalised as a citizen before their child’s birth outside the UK, all their children born on or after 1 July 2006 have the right to apply for British citizenship and apply for a passport directly. For earlier births, there are additional factors including which parent is British and possibly whether the parents were married at the time. You can check your own circumstances here.

Certificate of Entitlement

If you do not have a UK (or Irish) passport, it remains possible to travel on another passport with a "certificate of entitlement" (to reside in the UK). However, it costs more than €600 plus fees for submitting biometric information. Currently, they are in paper form with a sticker for your non-UK passport, but will be digital as of 25 February and managed through the UKVI portal. If you have an in-date certificate the profile will be added digitally and you can link it to future passports (without applying for another). Whilst the digital format is welcome, we have criticised both the cost and bureaucracy involved in obtaining the certificate. We are told that the charges do not cover costs and that very few certificates are issued – this latter of course may change given this new Home Office position so we will maintain our criticisms on cost and bureaucracy.

Cost

We recognise that the UK government's insistence on using a UK (or Irish) passport presents financial issues (i.e. the costs of holding two passports) and may also impact ability to travel at short notice to the UK (due either to passport application or renewal but see below) We have raised these concerns both to officials and Ministers, including the argument that, if you travel on an ETA, you are not seeking to live in the UK. The Home Office do say that they are working to improve response times for passport processing (and an online application can be completed in about two weeks to one month).

Emergency Travel Document

For those needing to travel urgently, there is the option of the Emergency Travel Document.

Mistaken issuance of the ETA

The Home Office are aware that there are some uncertainties around the ETA application process and there may be instances where an ETA has been issued to a British/EU dual citizen on their EU passport.

Currently, as far as we are aware, no sanctions or penalties seem to exist in respect of such cases. In such cases it appears to be possible to book travel and enter the UK using an EU passport, without issues at the UK frontier, especially when using eGates.

But if e-gates were unavailable, a manual inspection might raise questions on the part of the UK immigration officer. Theoretically it is possible for someone in that position to be refused admission to the UK, although the immigration officer may permit entry, based on questioning, but this is not guaranteed. We thus suggest that the safest course is for you carry a valid UK (or Irish) passport in case issues arise. If an ETA were issued mistakenly, and this were discovered at the UK border, it could be cancelled by the UK authorities.

Name Differences

We understand that there may be issues with name differences between UK and other passports (e.g. Name fields too short, use of maiden names). Some countries, including the UK allow for remarks or observations to be included in the passport details. Where there is a name misalignment, use of the observations/remarks sections could be used. It appears unlikely that this will pose an issue once passports are issued as it is difficult to envisage a situation where both passports will be presented together to an immigration officer and, then, the discrepancy would be resolved quickly. We have raised the issue of applications for, and renewals of, UK passports where sight of the other passport is required. We understand that internal guidance on naming conventions is issued in the Passport Office. Home Office officials have agreed to stress the importance of adherence to their Passport Office colleagues.

Temporary Arrangements

For a yet to be determined period, we understand that the Home Office has agreed with carriers that special arrangements can apply exceptionally to permit travel pending renewal of a UK passport. Assuming the carrier agrees, a booking could then be made using an expired passport issued in 1989 or later. This would have to be produced along with a current third country passport at (air)port check in. The carrier would possibly make checks via the Home Office Carrier Support Hub before issuing a boarding pass. That expired passport could then be used to prove UK citizenship at the UK border.

We understand that the Home Office will issue public guidance on this in the next few days, that there will be a Ministerial statement on 25 February and the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office will receive relevant material to put on “Living in…” sections of Embassy websites. We will update you when we have further clarity on this.

Useful Links

• Overseas British passport applications
• Electronic travel authorisation (ETA): guide for dual citizens
• House of Commons Library - Can a British citizen travel to the UK using a non-British passport?
• Travel urgently from abroad without your UK passport